School of Law celebrates new home for legal clinics

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law officially dedicated the George J. Asher Law Clinic Center on Dec. 11, 2012. The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception.

The School purchased the historic Detroit Fire Department’s Engine 2 in February 2012 and fully renovated the facility to serve as the new home for its law clinical programs. Although the building was used for many other purposes after it was sold by DFD, its historic character was preserved through spiral staircases, exterior red fire doors, and a lookout tower.

The facility’s opening is in conjunction with two significant milestones this year, the 100th anniversary of the School’s founding and the 47th anniversary of its first Urban Law Clinic. The two-story facility will provide more than 6,000 square feet of space for the School’s 10 legal aid clinics in downtown Detroit. Last year, more than 1,450 clients for whom legal services were otherwise unavailable were represented in the 10 clinics: Urban, Immigration, Mortgage Foreclosure, Veterans/Project SALUTE, Veterans Appellate, Criminal Trial, Criminal Appellate, Youth Jus­tice, and Mediation.

The new facility is located at 585 Larned Street, a half block from UDM’s Riverfront Campus, which houses the School’s Dowling Hall. Funding for the purchase of the property, as well as the extensive renovation of the building, came from a principal gift made by UDM alumnus Anthony A. Asher ’61, ’65, managing partner of the law firm of Sullivan, Ward, Asher, & Patton, P.C., based in Southfield, Mich. Anthony Asher made the gift in memory of his brother, George J. Asher, who was a student at the School of Law when he passed away.

Additional support for the purchase and renovation of the building came from the heirs of Walter Buhl Ford III, who were the immediate past owners of the building, and the McGregor Fund. The building is known as Walter Buhl Ford III Hall.